The rise and fall of Vincent “Buddy” Cianci rewrites All the King’s Men as farce. In 1974, Cianci took on the Democratic machine that had run the city of Providence into the eyesore of New England, ran for mayor as an anti-corruption populist, and won. Over the course of several terms he transformed the city, and the people of Providence loved him even more after he assaulted a man who he claimed was sleeping with his wife. That led to his resignation in 1984, but in 1990 he achieved an astounding comeback victory. By then, however, Cianci had become what he had opposed, and in 2001 the feds indicted him for corruption. In this documentary — whose screenings coincide with his release from prison after serving a five-year term — Cherry Arnold chronicles this career with verve and clarity, using trenchant clips and interviews and a low-key narration from James Woods, and she brings the brilliant, funny, insufferable Cianci to life as both the king and the court jester of his own downfall. Buddy is as irresistible as its subject, and an essential primer of American politics.